Etched a Tree
by SilentSniper
Summary: Keiko traveled to China to see if her heart still believed. KatnappeKimiko established. Overtones of onesided KeikoKimiko.


Xiaolin Showdown doesn't belong to me.

A/N: Took me ten months to be satisfied with this baby. I'm glad it's over!

* * *

The plane soared off into the sky with ice cream clouds with nothing more then choking cough of fuel as a young girl, judging by her awkward features, sighed in pure bliss. Obviously, she was happy as a clam to be on the plane.

She giggled gleefully to herself from time to time as she swung her legs back and forth which caused the man next to her to stare at her in confusion. The girl didn't notice him. She continued to fret in her chair. He coughed none too subtly. She heard him, glanced at him, noticed him staring and blushed a fierce tomato blush and sat still, but her happiness caused her to fidget here and there.

She couldn't believe her good luck! She couldn't believe she gathered that much money, well, she didn't gathered it all herself-her father gave her the money after hearing her plea day after day-but all the same. When she finally got her ticket, all she could do was look at it; it was her ticket to go see Kimiko.

Oh, my gosh, Kimiko! She's going to go see Kimiko!

It made her feel breathless.

"Kimiko?"

It was the man next to her that spoke. "Huh?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to speak outside my boundaries, but I'm a little curious about this Kimiko you're gushing about. Is she the one you're smiling for?"

The young girl smiled brightly. "Yup, Kimiko's my best friend!"

"Ah."

A moment of silence. She giggled. The man chuckled.

"Kimiko's the best. She's pretty and kind and helpful and just about the nicest person ever! I'm on my way to see her! I can't wait!"

Once again, the man chuckled. "It seems as if this Kimiko and you are really good friends."

"Mm, yeah, ever since we met."

"Oh, really?"

The girl nodded. "We met when we were ten years old."

"That's a long time. The friends that I've had when I was six I hardly remember."

"Well, we went to the same school and we sorta lived close by."

"Did you go on to middle school and high school together?"

She shook her a little sadly. The man wondered if he should just shut up or ask her questions to lull her back to those happy days.

"Maybe you should talk about your time together to make you happier," he said, "That is, if you want..."

Oh, to talk about Kimiko would be nice, she thought as she glanced at the black-haired man from underneath her bangs, but to talk about her to a complete stranger would be weird...

"Go on then, tell me about this 'extraordinary' Kimiko."

_Oh, whatever. _She smiled shyly at him. "OK"

The man returned her smile, but then an 'oh' expression made the warm smile disappear. "I forgot to introduce myself! I bet you're thinking that it's weird to spill out your life story to a complete stranger. Well, my name's Scott."

"Mine's Keiko."

"Nice to meet you, Keiko."

With that taken care of, Keiko went on to tell the man about her dearest friend.

* * *

She said they met in school and that was the honest truth. She was just a little girl, a little scared and a little sad about not having any special friends. Oh, she had Tomie and Sei-but they weren't special. It was a little strange for a social butterfly girl like her to have only two friends, but she was a daydreamer-she believed in fairy tales, happily ever after and having the kind of friends that made one feel all gooey and chewy inside.

Tomie and Sei were ordinary. She disliked ordinary, even though she was an ordinary girl. Her voice doesn't stand out. It was shrill, but not usually so. Her features don't stand out-just black eyes and black hair and Mary Jane plain (for now).

She wanted beautiful special, something-other-friends. She had hoped and hoped on the wishing star that her mama had told her about, but it turned out to be just some dinky star. Burning bright, but not magical. Shortly after her seventh birthday, she gave up.

"Hey, um, Murano!"

Keiko hated being pulled out of her daydreams, but she played nice and answered. "Hi, Tohomiko."

Tohomiko smiled and gestured to an empty seat. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Um...no...I mean, yes! I mean-why aren't you with your friend?"

The other girl frowned. "She's not my friend anymore."

"Oh," she replied with an understanding tone, but really, she didn't understand at all since Kisamoto was an all-around nice girl-she let her borrow her eraser once.

"So...can I sit here?"

Keiko smiled hesitantly. It seems alright cuz Tohomiko's nice. "OK."

They talked small talk, ate their lunches, were joined by Keiko's friends, they made jokes and eventually all was comfortable in the span of fifteen minutes. They're still not the best of friends, but Keiko sure hoped that they can be someday. Tohomiko's fun and she feels special.

Special. Tohomiko feels special. 'Oh' Keiko sighed. 'Special'. She giggled.

"What's so funny, Murano?"

"Keiko. Call me Keiko."

Tohomiko smile seemed brighter. "Call me Kimiko, then."

They laughed, but they still weren't the best of friends.

* * *

"So that's how you met Kimiko..."

"Yup, that's how we met."

"Go on, we still have time till the plane lands."

"O.K."

* * *

Time went along its slow path, Kimiko never went back to her other friend, Tomie and Sei left Keiko (on good terms) to find more appreciative friends, leaving Keiko and Kimiko to finally become good friends.

"Kimiko Tohomiko! What are you wearing?"

Keiko giggled. Kimiko's in trouble.

"Oh, Papa, it's just a skirt!" Kimiko complained.

Kimiko's papa sighed while he cleaned his glasses on his robes. "Where's your kimono? I told you we're going out."

Keiko tugged on her own skirt. She didn't have a kimono on either, but she didn't forget it at home. She did it on purpose and so did Kimiko.

"Where is your kimono, Keiko? I know your mother bought you a really pretty one recently."

"I don't want to wear it."

"Me either!"

Kimiko's outburst disappointed her father, Keiko noticed, but right now, she didn't care because Kimiko was being so cool. "Kimiko, please, just wear it."

"No."

Kimiko's papa turned to her. "Could you please convince her? "

She hesitated. Kimiko may be special (maybe), but this is Tohomiko-the kind man who has given her so many precious toys, including Skittles (the robot cat) and treated her like she was part of the family.

"Maybe we should get ready..."

Kimiko scoffed. "Don't be such a pushover."

"I'm not-I'm just saying that we should."

"I look ugly in a stupid kimono."

Although she agreed on the stupidness of the kimono, she mildly disagreed with the other statement. Kimiko's cute and she looks pretty in a kimono.

Poor Tohomiko. He gave up. "Fine, but we're going to the Izumis'"

"That's O.K, I like their daughter."

Keiko snickered. "Which one? There's like, five of them!"

"Yukari."

"Oh," Kimiko frowned. Yukari clung to Kimiko a lot. She's also the prettiest of the Izumis' daughters and well, prettier then her. "I don't like her."

"What? Yukari's nice!"

"She's a bully and Akito's nicer anyways." The second oldest girl looks like Kimiko, except for her black eyes and longer less glossy hair.

"Akito's a wimp."

Keiko was about to defend her, but truth be told, the girl was a little wimpy. "You're right, but so what?"

* * *

"You've met Satoshi Izumi's daughters?" said the man with astonishment.

"Yeah."

"Wow, I've never met them!"

Keiko blinked. "Why would you meet them?"

"Well, Izumi happens to be one of my best clients and we're sort of friends, but he's never introduced me to his daughters. I've met his wife, sweet woman, that one."

"Clients? For what?"

"Well, I'm a photographer."

"Photographer? You photograph?"

He nodded. "Yep, I have a business in America and Izumi orders some of my better photographs, but enough of about Izumi and his many daughters-you were telling me about Kimiko."

"Oh, yeah, I'm kinda glad you don't know Yukari."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Giggle, giggle and snort.

* * *

A year had passed-they were in their last year of little kid school and they couldn't be happier. Both of them knew that they were going to get into any school they wanted, so instead of worrying about what school would have them, like some students, they were having fun choosing what middle school they really wanted.

"How about this one?"

"I don't like it. It's co-ed."

"Exactly."

Keiko giggled. "Kimiko! What will your papa think?"

"He'll think it's a great school, which by the way, it is."

They continued to flip. "Oh! I like this one!"

"The S Academy for Girls? Eww, no!"

"What? I like it!"

"It's all girls!"

Keiko grinned. "Yup, no boys for Kimiko!"

"You're mean, but that school is definitely out."

"What are you two talking about?"

Kimiko glanced up first. "Yukari!"

Keiko pursed her lips when she looked up. From the beginning, she didn't like Yukari and after she begged her parents to let her transfer here, she disliked her even more. Yukari's just too attached to Kimiko and well, she's too pretty.

She frowned. Keiko knows she's not pretty _pretty_, but she's not ugly _ugly _either- it's just when it's the three of them, she feels like the ugly duckling.

"Keiko? You listening?"

"Yeah, I am."

"So then you know I've found the perfect school?"

Keiko snorted. "Really?"

Kimiko shot her a dirty look and shoved the catalog in her face. "Yes! Look!"

"Juuban?" she frowned. "Juuban's a bad school-bad students, bad teachers-just bad."

"Maybe, but I wanna go to somewhere that's not fancy. It's cute and their uniforms are cute-I mean, can you just imagine wearing that cute little skirt and blazer."

"The skirt's not little-it's long."

"It falls to the knees. That's not long. Long is falling down to the calves."

"Little skirts are up to the thighs."

"Whatever! It's just cute."

Keiko gazed lazily at the picture of the girls' uniforms. "It's O.K. I prefer the S Academy's uniforms."

Kimiko huffed. "Nu uh! The color scheme is all brown!"

Keiko sighed. "It's classy, elegant and way better then Juuban's ordinary blues."

Their third member finally spoke up, probably to break up their discussion. "I want to go to Juuban, but my parents want me to go to the S Academy for Girls. They say it's a 'wonderful' school for a young lady to go to"

"I want to go there, but Kimiko doesn't want to."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Why don't you go alone?"

Keiko scowled (nobody noticed, thank God.). Anywhere, no matter how cool that place is, is trash with Kimiko.

"Nah, I mean-Juuban _does_ look nice."

Yukari gave her a skeptical look, she knew that Keiko lied about Juuban being a nice little school, but she won't call her out.

"Juuban it is then!" Kimiko declared as she closed the catalog shut with gusto.

"Yay Juuban!" Keiko cheered. "New school, nice life, O.K-looking uniforms!"

Boo Juuban. It looks crummy...like its uniforms.

* * *

"So how was Juuban?"

"I didn't go to Juuban."

"Hm? Why not?"

"Kimiko didn't go."

"But I thought Kimiko wanted to go to Juuban after the fuss you told me she had about it."

"She did, but her papa gave her another option."

Keiko's bubbly storyteller energy wilted a bit. Sore subject, the man realized and waited for a bit for her to continue. She didn't, so he decided not to ask her why.

_Teenagers are so moody, _he grumbled, _makes me glad I don't have any children._

Silence reigned supreme after that abrupt stop and neither dared to elaborate on why Kimiko didn't go to Juuban. The man was curious about it, but it wasn't his place, so after a while, he decided to nap because he doubted he would get any sleep after they land.

"Another option, a better option, eh Kimiko?" Keiko muttered long after he had gone to sleep.

* * *

They joked about being called to the office and being told that they were not going to pass, but they knew that was stupid. They were bright girls with bright futures and so they passed. Graduation was beautiful; Kimiko's father spared no expense for the after party and neither did her parents. Stupid, really, because middle school graduation was going to be even more expensive and high school graduation was going to be way expensive- but hey, the Tohomikos are rich, really really rich.

Juuban was the next thing in their lives, but they worried very little about it because they were on a break. Sun, beaches, swimsuits for their developing bodies, amusement parks, melts-in-your mouth cotton candy, mall, movies, the whole lot and their parents doling buck after buck. Kimiko's mama wanted Kimiko to go a tea ceremony, but that never happened.

Sometimes, Kimiko wonders if Kimiko's mother is disappointed with her less-then-ladylike daughter. Keiko knows her own mother is.

Juuban really was next. It was just two months way, they realized.

"I'm not going."

"But you have to! We've been waiting for this concert _forever_!"

"Not that. I'm not going to Juuban."

"Excuse me, bee in my ear, did you say you're not going to Juuban?"

"Yeah."

"So we're going to a different school?" Keiko giggled, "Did you change your mind about the S Academy?"

"I'm going to a different school."

"What? What's going on? Why '_you_' and not '_we_'?"

Kimiko sighed and pulled at one of her pigtails. "Some crazy old man came to our house yesterday, started blabblin' about me being some kind of chosen one, a 'dragon' of some element or something like that."

"Crazy."

"I know! That's what I think, but Papa believed him! I think that's just an excuse to send me to the middle of nowhere, where there aren't any boys."

"No boys? That must really stink." Keiko snickered.

"That old man said that there is one boy there, but he assured Papa that the boy is a total innocent. Said he's never seen a girl. Yeah right! Though, he did say that there might be more once his search is over."

"So...you're really not going to Juuban, but will you still be in Japan?"

"No, the man's dragging me to China. I hope that Mama will convince Papa not to let me go. She's against it-says it's not appropriate for a young girl to be out there without supervision."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh."

* * *

Kimiko ended up going to 'monk' school in China. China! Keiko decided not go to Juuban, (Juuban was Kimiko's choice, not hers.) instead she went to the S Academy for Girls. She got to wear that snazzy uniform. She looked cute in it. None of that mattered. Kimiko wasn't there. Yukari was.

She didn't like Yukari, not really, but she's Kimiko's friend which makes Yukari her friend.

School was alright, she was a just another face in the crowd, well, many said she was pretty, but she didn't feel pretty, she got good grades-just an all-around good student. Yukari was somewhat nice to her. Kimiko sent her emails or called her because Keiko knows there are three boys living there along with that old monk and a dragon.

Yes, a dragon. She didn't believe it either until Kimiko sent her pictures.

She also knows that they go on quests for objects called 'Shen-gong-wu', she knows there is a creepy boy who sometimes hits on Kimiko and that they are 'dragons-in-training', but that's all she knew.

Kimiko stopped emailing her after a few months after she was forced to go to China. Her adventures must really keep her busy.

Well, school kept her busy too-too busy to care whether Kimiko emailed her or not. Really.

* * *

"I really was, Kimiko," Keiko said as she fiddled with her Pokemon game and as Scott snored beside her.

* * *

"You miss her, don't you?"

Keiko turned to Yukari. "Yeah, I do."

"I miss her too, but you're being ridiculous. You don't have any other friends besides me, you haven't had any dates-you're a pretty girl, so I don't understand why you're such a prune."

Keiko giggled. "I just don't like the boys here-they're short."

"So what? Your breasts are too small."

"They are not!" Keiko crossed her hands over her chest. "Yours are just too big!"

"Whatever. The point is-you miss Kimiko."

"I know."

"Go visit her."

"Excuse me? We still have school and we have no more breaks."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Not now. After graduation."

"Oh, maybe."

"You know, it's bad to have crushes on your friends."

"What?"

"Nothing-just Kimiko's going to be very happy when she sees you."

* * *

"Keiko, Keiko, wake up, we're here."

"We are?"

"Yes, we're in China."

Keiko wiped the drool off her mouth, turned the game off and smiled. "China."

"Kimiko's here."

"Yeah, she's here. I'm here."

"She'll be very happy to see you, I know it."

"Hopefully."

The man smiled. "I really wish I could know how this-your journey-ends."

"Maybe we'll catch the same plane back."

He smiled ruefully. "Maybe."

* * *

Once the man and Keiko said their goodbyes, Keiko looked at the crumpled piece of paper that had the temple's really vague directions.

_I'm gonna see Kimiko_ she thought as she signaled a taxi. A really old lookin' taxi. Yuck.

The area that surrounded 'monk' school was beautiful, she had to admit, very quiet, very crayon green, but so not Kimiko. Kimiko's a very loud person with very loud tastes, if she was a color, she would be yellow and this 'country' setting doesn't suit her at all, but Keiko never go an 'I hate it here' or 'this place is sooo boring' phone call from her.

She got the 'No Way, the Brazilian kid just Pantsed the bald kid' and the "I totally caught a cow, can you believe-" call, but nothing else.

Keiko wondered if Kimiko missed her as much as she missed her, but not as much as wondering as to why Kimiko decided to stay in this mall-less place.

She'll ask her once she gets there, along with other things. Very soon, the temple is just up ahead.

Ech, what an ugly place. An ugly blue, a little rundown and ugh, surrounded by practically nothing! How boring, but Kimiko seems to like it. Why? It's not like her.

Keiko shrugged and chose to ignore those thoughts. She's here! Kimiko's here. She giggled as she practically leaped out of the cab, almost forgot to pay the driver, but she remembered. The man just grumbled about 'children and stealing'

"I'm here!"

* * *

"Kimiko's out back-I think..."

"Eh, who are you?" She could just slap herself. She'll be known as that 'rude girl' from now on.

The boy smiled. "Name's Raimundo!"

Keiko 'oh'ed. Yup, he's just as Kimiko described-brown hair (plain), green eyes (beautiful), rather tan (kissed by the sun), kinda cute (not really) and loud (too soon to know). Rich and vibrant, upbeat and with eyes that sang of exotic places, unlike her classmates back home in their monotonous grays.

"Kimiko isn't here."

Boy, was this kid short! He was short and tiny and bald and _yellow _and _so _cute! If Kimiko hadn't said otherwise, she might have thought that this boy was just a kid. Right now, he's peering at her with 'serious business' black eyes.

She dismissed him. He's nothing special; he doesn't stand out much right now.

The boy with the (beautiful) green eyes frowned at the other boy. "When did she leave?"

"Don't know-she was here in the morn'in, lookin' all pretty, but at high noon, she was gone." said the newest arrival. Keiko doesn't know who he is just yet, but she liked his hair. It shined like an artificial light.

The short kid smiles up at her. "She'll back and she'll be most happy to see you, but for now, come and rest."

She is a little surprised. He talked like an old man or at least a very rich and well-behaved boy. She's interested now. Before he just looked strange, but now he talked all strangely. "Um, thank you."

"You can see us train outback." Raimundo suggested.

"I've always wanted to see the training sessions."

"Well, then, c'mon!"

* * *

When she came to the Xiaolin Temple, she imagined herself all cozy and warm while she talked to Kimiko and her friends. Maybe they'd play a game, laugh about Kimiko's life in Japan and eat something tasty. A nice bowl of soup, maybe, but no. She found herself witnessing a clash between good and evil, bad versus good, the beautiful people versus the not-so beautiful people.

Her spine tingled as she watched from the kitchen window (she hauled ass after the first strike), but she realized that she was watching something normal people would never witness. It really was beautiful with all that firepower and movement and shit flying around.

Keiko observed every little detail and gobbled it up with the appetite of a starving person; the way that the golden-eyed man and the small boy mirrored each others' movements and like how they speak with a sense of uneasy camaraderie, how the good team worked together without flopping, unlike her gymnastics team. The redhead tried so hard to be something, so much that she wants to hold him to her breast similar to how a mother would.

There isn't much to say about the woman with devil eyes, except that she was very beautiful and had very wide hips. Her mama had told her that hips like those were for carrying babies, so she wondered if the devil woman had any children. She was also the most sensuous woman she has ever seen in her young life, so erotic that her mother would scold her for even looking.

She knew that she didn't see a run-of-the-mill fight, but rather an all-of-sudden-full-of-aggression attack from the wicked people, so she's thankful that she got to see such a thing.

Keiko also knew that the evil man sensed that she was there and knew that she's a defenseless little thing, but he just smiled and showed sharp white teeth not meant for smiling.

She sighed sadly when it was all over. The good team won and the bad team frowned like little children as they stalked off. She was a bit miffed, but couldn't help laughing when Raimundo shouted something rather rude as the evil ones left.

"That was easy." Raimundo said afterwards.

That clash had lasted until the sun went down, so she was more then ready to hit the sack, but she was worried because Kimiko was still missing. The others told her that Kimiko's fine and that she can take care of herself.

"Kimiko is the strongest female I know." Omi (she finally knows his name) said.

"She's the only female you know."

Omi frowned. "I know Katnappé and Wuya..."

Raimundo blushed lightly. "I forget about Katnappé. Wuya doesn't count, she's an old hag."

"Who's Wuya?"

"She's the one with red hair." Clay answered. It's funny how he really doesn't talk.

"Oh. Then, she's beautiful." Raimundo was crazy, she decided.

Even as she commented on Wuya's beauty, she was still worried about Kimiko. "You guys lead such dangerous lives..."

"It's not that dangerous-Jack's a sissy." Raimundo reassured.

"Chase Young's lazy." Clay quipped.

"Hannibal Bean might be dangerous, but he's sneaky. We don't see him very often." Omi added.

"Still, I worry. She's my best friend."

"I know-friends worry about friends." Omi said softly.

Kimiko's lucky to have such good friends, Keiko realized, but what about herself? She only has Kimiko and Kimiko's so far away from her homeland.

"Oh, my gosh! Keiko!"

Keiko's heart went 'thump-a-thump' "Kimiko?"

"Who else would it be, silly?"

Keiko couldn't help but stare. The little girl Kimiko had been such a little china doll and this Kimiko was so robust, just bursting with healthy beauty and a glow on her face that wasn't there before and a very sweet smile not weighed down from being the Tohomikos' only daughter and heir. She noticed with slight amusement that while Kimiko has longer, coltish legs and longer hair, she's still a gawky little thing with a flat chest.

She made sure to sit a little straighter to show off her budding chest. Once she's done with showing off, she noticed a girl standing behind Kimiko.

Her friend must have noticed her staring at the unknown girl because she said, "Her name's Ashley."

Ashley scowled. "Katnappé."

"Sorry, her name's _Katnappé_."

_What a strange choice for a name_, Keiko thought, _but she's pretty_. Ashley's-no, _Katnappé's_ hair reminded her of a child's drawing of the sun-golden, bright and spiky- and her skin was as white as cotton balls. She's a little jealous of the way the girl already had the blossoming looks of a young woman and the long lean legs of an athlete. If it were not for her strange black eyes, this girl would have been a real beauty.

"...we tolerate her, though."

"Huh?"

Raimundo sighed. "I said, since Katnappé's involved with Kimiko, we have to tolerate her when she comes over-"

"Except when she's stealing our Shen-gong-wu." Omi piped in.

"Yup, that's a kick in the pants," Clay put in.

Katnappé scowled. "You guys steal my Shen-gong-wu, too!"

"Yeah, but we're the good guys."

"And that makes it O.K?"

"Pretty much."

Kimiko frowned. "Guys, please, now's not the time to fight."

"Kimiko is right, we have a guest."

Keiko bit her lip. "It's fine, Omi, but Raimundo, what did you mean by 'involved'?"

Raimundo opened his mouth to answer, but Kimiko shut him up with a look. "I should be the one answering that."

"But Keiko asked me!"

Kimiko ignored him and turned to Keiko with a sun-shiny smile and bright with happiness eyes.

_Please don't smile like that, not when I know what's going to happen. _

"Ashley and I are together!"

"Katnappé."

_All this time, I just wanted to see her. I miss her. It's not fair. It's not fair. _

It's not fair that she had to go to an ordinary school with ordinary people in an ordinary city while Kimiko got to go to this special school with special people without the special place though. Kimiko even got to meet a beautiful mermaid with golden hair and pretty pale-like-a-pearl skin, nevermind the fact that the mermaid was a nasty lil' thing. The only thing that mattered was that she always wanted to meet one and never did while Kimiko never wanted to meet one and did.

It's not fair that she had such an ordinary life, that she was just another ordinary person who's only a top student and the daughter of ordinary parents whereas Kimiko got to be the daughter of the famous Tohomiko and the savior of the world many times.

Kimiko was given such a special life and special powers while she was just another face in the crowd.

Keiko bit her lip. But that's Kimiko; she knew that Tohomiko Kimiko was special ever since they met-but it's just not fair that this pale and strange girl with strange catlike eyes got to bask in Kimiko's special light.

"Keiko?"

Keiko shook her head. She was being silly. Kimiko was her dearest friend and maybe that's what she is-Kimiko's dearest friend. Not a sister or a lover, but a very dear friend.

"I'm just wondering to myself why Katnappé would want someone as goofy as you."

Katnappé smirked. "I ask myself that all the time."

Kimiko snorted. "Come off it. I'm not that goofy anymore, I'm a blossoming young lady."

"You sound just like your mom."

"Oh, my god, no...I don't want to sound like my mom." Kimiko shuddered and then grinned. "How's school?"

"I'm just being a good little student, ready to go to high school."

"High school?" Omi chimed in with wide eyes.

"It's school beyond school beyond school-all it does is get harder."

Kimiko glanced around-too many people for a cozy little get-together.

"Guys, could you give us one-on-one time?"

"Why?" whined Raimundo, "I was just getting to know Keiko!"

"Well, _I _want to spend some alone time with Keiko!"

"You gonna cheat on me?"

Kimiko sputtered. "What?"

Katnappé looked at the flustered Keiko with a lofty eye. "I admit she has pretty eyes, but then again, I have prettier eyes. Oh!" she purred. "Her skin's all soft 'n' pale like a pampered little princess, but I'm a villain and villains eat princesses like her."

"Don't get any ideas."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Katnappé drawled, but even as she said it, she winked at Keiko. Keiko blushed at the attention she was getting from the pretty girl with the sharp little smile.

Kimiko scowled. "Alright! Everyone out! It's me time now!"

"At least your self-centeredness hasn't changed over the years…"

"I think it has."

Keiko had to agree; there was this motherly air around Kimiko that was never there before-she cared a whole lot more about other then people now and it brought her down a couple of pegs.

"Well, we'll leave you two best friends alone," Katnappé teased coyly, "Just don't cheat me with Princess."

All of them started to leave, taking all the vibrant colors from the kitchen-taking all the rich violets, gold, peachs, browns and greens-leaving only the dull blue washes. The room became a little more spacious, not so warm or so colorful, but that's what she wanted. She didn't travel all this way just to meet Kimiko's friends.

"So…you and Ashley…?" she blurted out.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe it myself."

Keiko coughed. "She's…pretty."

Kimiko slumped in her seat. "But she's on the Heylin side. The guys put up with her, but that's about it. They don't like her and they don't trust her."

"You always did fall for the wild ones," Keiko said softly, "Remember Kamijo Shinichi?"

"Oh,Shinichi! His hair was so wild!" Kimiko sighed, "But Katnappé's hair is messier."

"It's not the hair."

"It's the eyes; both of them have such fire in their eyes!"

Keiko bit her lip. _Does that mean I have eyes with no fire?" _

"Do you love her?"

Kimiko glanced at her little tied-for-combat shoes. "It's not love-I'm too young for love. It's simple puppy love."

Hmm…too young for love. Maybe she's too young for love, too. Maybe all she needed right now is a really good friend.

"So…how have you been since you came here?"

"At first, I didn't want the job of saving the world from rock 'n' roll rejects, but I got used to the guys, Master Fung, Dojo and even Jack Spicer! They're like…umm…"

"A second family?" Keiko said quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah. That's it. A second family."

Keiko swallowed. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Where do I stand?"

Kimiko smiled as she scooted closer to Keiko and cuddled up to the stiff Keiko. "You're my best friend."

"Best friend, not a sister, not a lover…" she muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothin'"

"Keiko?" said the girl with spilling fountain pigtails.

"Hmm?" replied the ordinary girl quietly. She was being lulled to sleep because Kimiko radiated comfortable body heat. Her hair tickled.

"I'm really happy that you came."

"Yukari and Mr. Scott told me the same thing…"

"Mr. Scott?"

Keiko waved her off with half-closed eyes.

Her friend snuggled closer to her, so close that she could breathe in Keiko's soap and skin scent. "But, seriously, thanks for coming all the way over here."

"What are best friends for?"

"What a corny line. It needs to be shot down."

"I know."

* * *

She stayed in the temple for three days, three glorious days, filled with laughter, fine food and getting to know the other boys better. Katnappé came over from time to time and kept calling her 'Princess' in honeyed tones. Apparently, that was her new nickname.

"_Hey, Princess, want an orange?" _

_"Hey, Princess! Give us a kiss!"_

Kimiko promised to stay in touch.

"_This time, I won't forget to call or write." _

Keiko didn't quite believe her, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

After she landed in Japan-she didn't see Scott-she searched for the old maple tree four streets away from her house before going home. She, as a small girl with small dreams, had carved a simple message into it.

It said, in childish scrawls:

_K+K 4ever. _

It was a generic message; nobody could guess its meaning, except for maybe Yukari, but it was dear to her heart. Her little girl heart, that spoke of puppy love.

That message was a fairy tale-a cute little fairy tale that she will always remember, but she was older, so it was time for a change.

After apologizing to the aging tree once more, she carved a strikethrough through her old words. She hummed a little tune as she wrote something more magical into the tree.

_K+K Best Friends Forever._

* * *


End file.
